1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,920 --> 00:00:18,840 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio. 4 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:22,520 Speaker 1: And how the tech are you? Well, I thought we'd 5 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:26,840 Speaker 1: do a little tech stuff tidbits episode. Today, Bloomberg reports 6 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:31,440 Speaker 1: that one of Apple's worst kept secret projects is now 7 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:37,319 Speaker 1: on indefinite hold, meaning it may never come out. That 8 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: project is a pair of augmented reality glasses or a 9 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:44,280 Speaker 1: R glasses. So I thought that chat a bit about 10 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:47,879 Speaker 1: a R. Uh. It's too bad it's not talk like 11 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: a pirate day because then I could talk about our glasses. 12 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: But no, it's it's a R. And I want to 13 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about the history of augmented reality 14 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,320 Speaker 1: and why even a company like Apple has to back 15 00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: off from the quest of the augmented reality glasses. Also, 16 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: I'm going to chat about what Apple is gonna do 17 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:11,319 Speaker 1: instead of producing those a R glasses. We'll get to 18 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: that towards the end of the episode. So, first off, 19 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: what the heck is augmented reality. Well, it's a slice 20 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:23,640 Speaker 1: of a larger spectrum that we call mixed reality or 21 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:28,199 Speaker 1: x are. Mixed reality describes systems in which the user 22 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 1: interacts with some mixture of real and computer generated elements. 23 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,480 Speaker 1: So let's take virtual reality or VR for example. With 24 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:42,040 Speaker 1: virtual reality, a computer creates the visual and audio cues 25 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: that the user encounters, so everything you see and here 26 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: is computer generated. Depending on the extent of the experience, 27 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 1: you might also get some other elements to boost immersion, 28 00:01:54,840 --> 00:01:58,880 Speaker 1: like maybe some smells thrown in. Like maybe you are 29 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: supposed to be hanged fighting over a forest and you 30 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:05,440 Speaker 1: start to smell the scent of pine, and some fans 31 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,240 Speaker 1: begin to blow air on you to simulate the wind. 32 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:11,720 Speaker 1: But this means that you're you've got some real world 33 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: stuff impacting your experience on top of the virtual elements 34 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: that you're seeing and hearing there before. It's a mixed reality. 35 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: Augmented reality is kind of on the other end of 36 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: the spectrum of of mixed reality from VR. So with 37 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,959 Speaker 1: augmented reality, your experience of the world around you remains 38 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: available to you, so you can still see and hear 39 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:38,120 Speaker 1: the world around you, but in addition to that, you 40 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: get some computer generated material that adds into that experience. 41 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 1: So it could be audio cues that are delivered through 42 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,720 Speaker 1: like an earpiece or a bone conducting you know, uh, speaker, 43 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: or it could be digital information that's visually overlaid on 44 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 1: top of your view of the world, which could be 45 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: through a screen or transparent lenses. The information adds to 46 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: or augments your understanding of your surroundings. And this is 47 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: not a new idea. Back in nine a professor at 48 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: Harvard named Ivan Sutherland created a contraption that he nicknamed 49 00:03:19,639 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: the Sword of Damocles. Now, in case you do not 50 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: understand that reference, and trust me, the sort of Damocles 51 00:03:28,440 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 1: is a phrase I heard a lot before I ever 52 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:34,920 Speaker 1: thought to even look into what the story was behind it. 53 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: I'm going to give you the quick version of it. 54 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 1: And I know this is tex stuff. It's not stuff 55 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 1: you missed in history class or uh, you know, any 56 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: kind of mythology course. But give me some slack. So 57 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,720 Speaker 1: Damocles was a member of the court of Dionysius the 58 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,600 Speaker 1: Second of Syracuse, dion as I will call him. So 59 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: this was in fourth century b c e. And Syracuse 60 00:03:59,600 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: was a power, a full city in Sicily, and dion 61 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: the second wasn't the best ruler. He was kind of 62 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:08,880 Speaker 1: a party boy. He initially inherited his position when his 63 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:13,920 Speaker 1: pops kicked off when Dion Jr. Was just thirty years old. Anyway, 64 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,960 Speaker 1: back to Damocles, So the story goes that Damocles is 65 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:21,159 Speaker 1: attending the court of Dion the second, and Damocles is 66 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:26,360 Speaker 1: just falling all over himself, kissing Dion two's posterior, and 67 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,880 Speaker 1: then he essentially implies that Dion the second had it 68 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:32,479 Speaker 1: made in the shade, that being king must be the 69 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: best to have absolute power and all of this luxury 70 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: at your disposal. So Dion goes all like, oh you 71 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: think so, well, let's switch places and you can find out. 72 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: Keep in mind, actual history tells us that Dion really 73 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,679 Speaker 1: was all about the lavish lifestyle. So this doesn't really 74 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:51,719 Speaker 1: sound like the historical account, but this is the myth, 75 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: so we're gonna go with it. So the story goes 76 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 1: the Damocles hops up on the throne and he's like, hey, 77 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: I could get used to this. Except Dion then hangs 78 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: a sword point down directly above the throne and therefore 79 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: directly above Damocles, and he uses a single horse's hair 80 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:13,680 Speaker 1: to do it. So he's communicating that, yeah, you've got 81 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 1: all this nice stuff, but being a ruler is a 82 00:05:17,040 --> 00:05:20,159 Speaker 1: constant danger. You never know when it's going to strike, 83 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: when that thread's gonna break, and you're going to be 84 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:26,080 Speaker 1: in mortal peril. Now, in Dion's case, he had made 85 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,679 Speaker 1: a lot of enemies, mostly by being a not great 86 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,160 Speaker 1: ruler of Syracuse. So to simulate that he had this 87 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: sword suspended on a weak horse's hair above Damocles's head, 88 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: you know, any moment death could come for you. And 89 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: then afterwards they switched back and Dion was saying, see, 90 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: it's not all wine and roses, until he presumably went 91 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: back to smelling roses and drinking wine. Now, forgive me 92 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: the tangent. It's just kind of fun to dive into 93 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:56,839 Speaker 1: history and literature and mythology on occasion. Anyway, Sutherland, back 94 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:00,920 Speaker 1: in Night, he creates this display, calls it the Sword 95 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:03,560 Speaker 1: of Damocles. By the way, he didn't do this alone. 96 00:06:03,560 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: He actually worked with several of his students over at Harvard, 97 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: and this was a head mounted display that actually dangled 98 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 1: from a mechanical arm. Thus the Sword of Damocles because 99 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: it was suspended. Now, it was done for a couple 100 00:06:18,680 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: of reasons. One was that it was just way too heavy, 101 00:06:21,360 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: so you couldn't wear it on its own. It had 102 00:06:23,839 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: to be suspended so that some of the weight could 103 00:06:26,080 --> 00:06:30,320 Speaker 1: be taken off the user. But also that connection was 104 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: part of the way that the whole system was able 105 00:06:33,080 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: to track the movement of the display, so that when 106 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:42,520 Speaker 1: someone wore the display and they moved their head, their 107 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: their view would move along with their physical movement. See 108 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:51,040 Speaker 1: Sutherland had previously created head melted displays, but they didn't 109 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:54,160 Speaker 1: have head tracking, which means you could strap one to 110 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:56,279 Speaker 1: your face and turn your head, but you would just 111 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: see the same view as you did a moment before. 112 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: It be kind of the same thing that if you, 113 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:05,520 Speaker 1: you know, had a a smartphone playing a YouTube video, 114 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:08,840 Speaker 1: just a regular YouTube video and advisor, you turn your 115 00:07:08,839 --> 00:07:10,320 Speaker 1: head to the left or to the right, you're still 116 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:13,320 Speaker 1: looking at the same video right your your perspective hasn't 117 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: changed at all. So head tracking was a really important 118 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:22,000 Speaker 1: part of the technology that would advance both augmented reality 119 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,160 Speaker 1: and virtual reality, and the sort of Damocles could do it, 120 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,520 Speaker 1: so um a phenomenal achievement in nineteen sixty eight of 121 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,000 Speaker 1: all things. Like you gotta remember this is before even 122 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: personal computers were a thing, so really groundbreaking stuff. Now, 123 00:07:38,560 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: the sort of Damocles was really more in the realm 124 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: of virtual reality than augmented reality. It was meant to 125 00:07:44,840 --> 00:07:48,760 Speaker 1: show computer generated images, not overlay them on top of 126 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:51,280 Speaker 1: your view of the world around you. But it was 127 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: one of the major pieces that had to fall into 128 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:58,800 Speaker 1: place for augmented reality to work, because obviously augmented reality 129 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: own works if the overlay can adjust with respect to 130 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 1: your point of view whatever you're looking at. Right, if 131 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: you put on a pair of augmented reality glasses and 132 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: you take a look at a building and the a 133 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: R is telling you, oh, here are the offices that 134 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: are in that building, and then you turn your head 135 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: to look at a different building, well, it has to 136 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: be able to track that motion and understand all right, well, 137 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:28,160 Speaker 1: now we're looking at something else. So we have to 138 00:08:28,200 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: put in different information because the first set of information 139 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:36,840 Speaker 1: is no longer relevant. Head tracking is absolutely critical to 140 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: make that happen. Now a R wouldn't even get a 141 00:08:40,760 --> 00:08:45,319 Speaker 1: name until nineteen nine, nineteen sixty eight, we get this 142 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:50,880 Speaker 1: this uh uh sort of Damocles contraption, and for the 143 00:08:50,960 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: next two decades, a R and VR development continue to happen, 144 00:08:55,000 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 1: but was mostly in research labs and also some military applications. 145 00:08:59,400 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: It was being used in things like cockpits of fighter 146 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:05,520 Speaker 1: jets and stuff like that, but other than that, it 147 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:09,839 Speaker 1: was pretty much invisible to the average person. And around 148 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,199 Speaker 1: that's when Tom caught Ll and his coworker David Mizzle 149 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: got an assignment from their employer, Boeing Computer Services Research. So. 150 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,599 Speaker 1: Boeing is an aerospace company, and it was looking to 151 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:27,160 Speaker 1: update the way that it would train people construction workers 152 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:32,199 Speaker 1: mainly who were building Boeing's aircraft. So one of the 153 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: things they had been doing is they were using these 154 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:39,679 Speaker 1: little plywood boards to write instructions about how to lay 155 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,160 Speaker 1: out cables along the body of the aircraft. And they 156 00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: would put these boards up within the aircraft to kind 157 00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,120 Speaker 1: of act as guides. But you had to have specific 158 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: boards for every different kind of aircraft because no two 159 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: aircraft were using the exact same layout for wiring. And 160 00:09:57,000 --> 00:09:59,680 Speaker 1: so the Boeing was saying, hey, can you come up 161 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 1: with a their way of doing this, because this is 162 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: kind of this is like stone age approach to uh, 163 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 1: to the space age stuff we're doing. So Caudel and 164 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 1: miss L came up with a system that used a 165 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,960 Speaker 1: head mounted display that would let construction workers still see 166 00:10:17,400 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: the aircraft like they're still getting a view of their surroundings, 167 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: but they would get a digital drawing that would superimpose 168 00:10:23,679 --> 00:10:27,559 Speaker 1: where the cables were supposed to go. And they could 169 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:30,080 Speaker 1: even use blank boards as kind of like a movie screen. 170 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: So you would look at the blank boards and the 171 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:33,880 Speaker 1: blank boards would act as the same sort of guide 172 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: that the construction workers have been used to, but now 173 00:10:37,559 --> 00:10:41,480 Speaker 1: the instructions are being provided by a computer program and 174 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:44,839 Speaker 1: displayed within this head mounted display as opposed to being 175 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:49,160 Speaker 1: physically written on the plywood boards. This meant you didn't 176 00:10:49,200 --> 00:10:52,520 Speaker 1: have to have plywood boards for every single aircraft. You 177 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: didn't have to have them all written out for specific ones. 178 00:10:55,840 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: You just use blank ones, and then you would use 179 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: whatever the software was was for that specific type of aircraft, 180 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:04,679 Speaker 1: and then the construction workers could get to work and 181 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:07,560 Speaker 1: they could follow those instructions. So Caddel was the one 182 00:11:07,600 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: who came up with the term augmented reality. The head 183 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: meld display adds to or augments the person's experience of reality, 184 00:11:17,000 --> 00:11:19,200 Speaker 1: and we would get a lot of focus no pun 185 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:23,360 Speaker 1: intended on the industrial world with regard to augmented reality. 186 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 1: And you can quickly imagine lots of potential applications. Being 187 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 1: able to see where you need to arrange, say wires 188 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 1: or pipes within the frame of a building could be helpful. 189 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:38,840 Speaker 1: Like imagine going through the process of constructing a home. Well, 190 00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,480 Speaker 1: if you have a united approach, like you have this 191 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:45,640 Speaker 1: dream of how everything needs to be laid out, using 192 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,480 Speaker 1: something like a head meld display with augmented reality could 193 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: allow various contractors to see that layout virtually and follow 194 00:11:55,840 --> 00:12:01,040 Speaker 1: that plan and thus avoid potential complications where like someone says, oh, 195 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: I can't I can't do what I had planned to 196 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,079 Speaker 1: do because now there's a pipe in this wall right here. 197 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:11,640 Speaker 1: Also for future people who are working on a structure, 198 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:16,640 Speaker 1: having a digital plan of everything that's built within the 199 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:20,839 Speaker 1: walls that can be displayed through augmented reality would be 200 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:23,319 Speaker 1: really helpful. Let's say that you are a construction worker 201 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: and you're supposed to do a whole new layout for 202 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: an office space. Maybe the previous tenant has moved out, 203 00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,640 Speaker 1: a new one's going to move in. Augmented reality might 204 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:35,920 Speaker 1: show you where all the existing wiring is and let 205 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 1: you plan around that so that you can be as 206 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 1: efficient as possible when you're creating the new office layout. 207 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,920 Speaker 1: So you can definitely see a lot of practical applications 208 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: for augmented reality, especially in the worlds of industry. Right, 209 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: maybe fewer obvious applications for the average consumer, but we 210 00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: would eventually get to there. Okay, we're gonna take a 211 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:03,720 Speaker 1: quick break. When we come back, I'll talk a little 212 00:13:03,720 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: bit more about the history of augmented reality and what's 213 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 1: going on with Apple. Before the break, I was talking 214 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 1: about how augmented reality is used a lot in industry, 215 00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: but another fairly early use of augmented reality was in entertainment. 216 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: Sports fans would get a kind of taste of what 217 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,199 Speaker 1: augmented reality is all about when the NFL started to 218 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:37,920 Speaker 1: use sports vision here in the United States and for 219 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: American football. So, sports vision is a system that lets 220 00:13:41,760 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: producers overlay graphics onto a live television feed, such as 221 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 1: a yellow line to mark a down on the field, 222 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:55,319 Speaker 1: even if the cameras in motion, the system can put 223 00:13:55,440 --> 00:13:58,120 Speaker 1: that line down so that it remains in the right 224 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: position with respect to your view of the field. And 225 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 1: now people who were tuning into the game could see 226 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,839 Speaker 1: in real time how say an offensive team advanced or 227 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: failed to advance. More clearly in place could become more exciting. 228 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: You could see how much distance would need to be 229 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:17,920 Speaker 1: covered in order to secure the next down or maybe 230 00:14:17,960 --> 00:14:20,760 Speaker 1: even a touchdown, which is I understand it as a 231 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:25,440 Speaker 1: thing in American football. I'm not. I'm not really well 232 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:28,720 Speaker 1: schooled in sports. I know that's a shock to many 233 00:14:28,800 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 1: of you. Now, development in augmented reality continued in various projects, 234 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:37,840 Speaker 1: and a lot of these were independent projects. Then this 235 00:14:38,000 --> 00:14:40,880 Speaker 1: probably means that we actually saw the evolution of a 236 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:45,040 Speaker 1: R occur more slowly than it would have if it 237 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: were a more unified kind of effort. But instead we 238 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:57,200 Speaker 1: saw different teams creating different are hardware and applications, sometimes 239 00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: in very very specific applications that just weren't portable to 240 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,840 Speaker 1: other uses. But by two thousand there was some serious 241 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:11,800 Speaker 1: work going on. A developer named hiro Katsu Kato developed 242 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,240 Speaker 1: an open source software library and he called it a 243 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:20,200 Speaker 1: R toolkit. That really helped developers because it meant they 244 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: didn't have to reinvent the wheel for every application. They 245 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:27,800 Speaker 1: had this common source of of a software library that 246 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:30,200 Speaker 1: they could be they could build upon, and they could 247 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 1: tweak and evolve and improve over time. And meanwhile other 248 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:39,400 Speaker 1: people could take advantage of that same toolkit, and that 249 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:44,000 Speaker 1: really sped things up considerably. In two thousand nine, Esquire 250 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: magazine released a special edition of its magazine, a physical 251 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: paper magazine, and it included a QR code on the 252 00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: cover along with Robert Downey Jr. And if you happen 253 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: to have a laptop and it happened to have a 254 00:15:58,160 --> 00:16:01,760 Speaker 1: webcam attached to it, and you could download some specific 255 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: software that Esquire linked to, then you could use your 256 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: webcamp to scan the QR code on the magazine cover 257 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: and looking through the monitor like which would be kind 258 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: of mirroring the the cover of the magazine, Robert Downey Jr. 259 00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: Would suddenly spring to life and jump to it and 260 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: introduce you to the concept of augmented reality. He did 261 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: it in a pretty snarky way, which is, you know, 262 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: kind of his thing, and then he went on to 263 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: sheepishly promote his upcoming Sherlock Holmes film, which honestly was 264 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: pretty adorable and entertaining. Now, the mobile revolution, which was 265 00:16:41,040 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: largely led by Apple's iPhone, would transform how we access 266 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: online content, and it also created a new way for 267 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:54,520 Speaker 1: us to experience augmented reality using special apps and real 268 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,680 Speaker 1: world components, such as movie posters. We could use our 269 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: phones to be the view through which we experienced augment 270 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:04,920 Speaker 1: in reality. Right the camera on the back of the 271 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,119 Speaker 1: phone could feed a video view right to your screen, 272 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,479 Speaker 1: and then the phone would overlay digital information or replace 273 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: whatever it is you're viewing with whatever they are application 274 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: wants it too. So for the example, there were movie 275 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:23,920 Speaker 1: posters where you would hold your phone up and I 276 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,159 Speaker 1: assume there still are, I just don't hear about them 277 00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:28,800 Speaker 1: very much, but you would hold your phone up and 278 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:32,040 Speaker 1: it would scan that this was an a R related 279 00:17:32,760 --> 00:17:34,800 Speaker 1: the thing. You might even have to have a very 280 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: specific app downloaded in order for this to work. But 281 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: then the movie poster would seemingly come to life, or 282 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: you might get an animated sequence, or even like a 283 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,920 Speaker 1: trailer would play for the movie. All these sorts of 284 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: things could happen where it's built on top of your 285 00:17:51,359 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: view of the world in this case, this particular movie poster. 286 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:59,080 Speaker 1: But you know, people were already starting to wonder what 287 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: if you could build this technology into say a pair 288 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:06,520 Speaker 1: of glasses, and so instead of holding up a display 289 00:18:07,000 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: and then looking at the world through that, you know, 290 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: kind of like those folks who go to concerts and 291 00:18:12,359 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: they turn on their their cameras on their phones and 292 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: they watch the whole concert through their phone as their 293 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: videoing the concert instead of being in the moment, Like 294 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:25,199 Speaker 1: what what if? Instead of doing that, I'm just wearing 295 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:28,080 Speaker 1: some glasses and the display is built into the glasses 296 00:18:28,119 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: and I can see these effects without having to have 297 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,399 Speaker 1: this this handheld device between me and the world around me. 298 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:39,640 Speaker 1: But that is a very tall order when you start 299 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:43,479 Speaker 1: to consider the elements that are required to fit into 300 00:18:44,600 --> 00:18:47,879 Speaker 1: those glasses in order to give it a r functionality. 301 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: Let's break down some of the components that you would 302 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 1: expect in an augmented reality headset. First of all, you 303 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,119 Speaker 1: have to have some sort of processor or controller to 304 00:19:00,200 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: act as the brains of the device, So there's one 305 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,400 Speaker 1: chip right there. You need at least one camera, preferably too, 306 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: so you can get some stereoscopic vision so you can, 307 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 1: you know, have depth be part of the calculation here. 308 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: But you need at least one camera so that the 309 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:19,160 Speaker 1: device can align information with whatever it is that you're 310 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:22,120 Speaker 1: actually looking at. So that camera needs to be able 311 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:24,400 Speaker 1: to say, all right, well, I can tell they're looking 312 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:26,960 Speaker 1: at this McDonald's, so I'm going to show them the 313 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:31,200 Speaker 1: big Donald's menu. You need a display, or at least 314 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,160 Speaker 1: some form of projection so that you can actually see 315 00:19:34,600 --> 00:19:38,000 Speaker 1: the digital information that's being provided to you. You might 316 00:19:38,119 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: need a microphone and a speaker if you want to 317 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 1: incorporate voice commands and audio feedback. You might want some 318 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,359 Speaker 1: sort of GPS sensor. Now you could get away with 319 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:50,879 Speaker 1: pairing this device with something else, like a smartphone, and 320 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,880 Speaker 1: then your smartphone ends up taking over some of these 321 00:19:54,000 --> 00:19:57,879 Speaker 1: duties because you can you can offload that to the 322 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,919 Speaker 1: phone instead of onto the device itself. But you might 323 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: want something like an accelerometer in your A R glasses. 324 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: You would also need some form of wireless communication chip, 325 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: whether that's Bluetooth or WiFi or cellular or something else, 326 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:17,440 Speaker 1: so that it can send and receive information. Probably Bluetooth 327 00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,680 Speaker 1: would be one of the requirements, because it's hard to 328 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:24,480 Speaker 1: imagine not pairing this with a smartphone, at least for 329 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: the data connection. You could get away with having it 330 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,320 Speaker 1: be cellular, though then you would have to, you know, 331 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:35,399 Speaker 1: pay a bill each month to keep your glasses connected. Um, 332 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,479 Speaker 1: I'll see, you need a battery to power the whole thing. Now, 333 00:20:38,560 --> 00:20:41,480 Speaker 1: this is just scratching the surface really, which is why 334 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 1: you start to see it's tough to pack all of 335 00:20:43,440 --> 00:20:46,520 Speaker 1: these components that you need for a useful working device 336 00:20:47,080 --> 00:20:50,919 Speaker 1: and still keep it in a sleek eyeglass frame style 337 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:55,760 Speaker 1: form factor. So back in Google would show off Google 338 00:20:55,880 --> 00:20:58,440 Speaker 1: Glass and this device would pair with a smartphone. So 339 00:20:58,560 --> 00:21:02,240 Speaker 1: the smartphone acted kind of like a modem for the glasses. 340 00:21:02,600 --> 00:21:06,159 Speaker 1: It would you know, filter information to the glasses and 341 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,919 Speaker 1: take information from the glasses, kind of acted as a liaison. 342 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: It could also store photos or videos that you would 343 00:21:13,359 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: take with the glasses, so you could take pictures, you 344 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,200 Speaker 1: could take video, and then the glasses would send that 345 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:22,399 Speaker 1: to a smartphone and then free up the limited space 346 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: that the glasses themselves had. Uh, so you did offload 347 00:21:26,920 --> 00:21:30,879 Speaker 1: some of the requirements onto your companion device, the smartphone 348 00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:35,440 Speaker 1: you paired the Google Glass with. That ended up stripping 349 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: down the Google Glass a little bit, so they didn't 350 00:21:37,359 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: have to have everything I just mentioned earlier. Now, the 351 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: Google glass, the glass part referred to a prism that 352 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:47,879 Speaker 1: was positioned so that it was out of the way 353 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,680 Speaker 1: of the wearer's view if they were looking straightforward, but 354 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 1: by just glancing up and a little bit to the right. 355 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: They could look into this prism and see some overlaid information. 356 00:21:59,280 --> 00:22:01,960 Speaker 1: This was Google's way to both keep the view clear 357 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:05,200 Speaker 1: for the wearer and also make a display that was 358 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:09,720 Speaker 1: still accessible and useful. The glass had forward facing cameras 359 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:12,359 Speaker 1: and also a bone conducting speaker built into the frame 360 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:14,960 Speaker 1: so that you could hear audio from it, and you 361 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,120 Speaker 1: could use vocal commands. You could use a few head 362 00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: movements to do things like activated. Also had a physical 363 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:23,920 Speaker 1: button if you wanted to use that to take pictures 364 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: and stuff. Uh. And that was about it, and it 365 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,679 Speaker 1: was neat, but it was really limited. And while geeks 366 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: like me slobbered over the thought of getting a pair 367 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 1: of Google Glass, it didn't really have the aesthetic or 368 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:40,359 Speaker 1: the utility to appeal to the general public. You just 369 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 1: you couldn't do enough with them to make them really desirable. Also, 370 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,720 Speaker 1: people were freaked out about the idea of folks wearing 371 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:52,840 Speaker 1: a camera on their face where they could be taking 372 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:56,640 Speaker 1: video or pictures and no one would know about it. Now, 373 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: I would counter that to say, we're already there, because 374 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:04,640 Speaker 1: everybody already has a camera in their pocket. Smartphones are everywhere, 375 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: and people always have their smartphones out and they're always 376 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 1: looking at stuff and you can't tell if they're taking 377 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:14,280 Speaker 1: photos or if they're just scrolling on Twitter or whatever. 378 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:17,800 Speaker 1: So that already exists. It just for some reason, once 379 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:21,520 Speaker 1: you moved it to the glasses format, people got more 380 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:26,200 Speaker 1: wary of it, which is interesting. I guess if you 381 00:23:26,359 --> 00:23:29,480 Speaker 1: just have a little bit of abstraction, then that makes 382 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:32,119 Speaker 1: people comfortable enough to accept it or at least not 383 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:34,760 Speaker 1: think about it much. But then when it becomes a 384 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:39,159 Speaker 1: little more m prevalent, people get worried. I even had 385 00:23:39,240 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: people asked me to take I had a pair of 386 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:43,960 Speaker 1: Google glass and had I had friends of mine asked 387 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:45,919 Speaker 1: me if I could take them off when we were 388 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: doing stuff like eating lunch together because they were freaked 389 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: out by it. And meanwhile, I'm thinking, like, every single 390 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,399 Speaker 1: person in this restaurant has a camera on the table, 391 00:23:57,520 --> 00:23:59,879 Speaker 1: if not actively in their hands, because no one can 392 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,520 Speaker 1: us leave them out of the way at any given moment. 393 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: So yeah, Google glass did not take off, and it 394 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 1: ended up languishing a bit. It is still used, but 395 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:16,359 Speaker 1: in limited scope, like it's typically used in workplace and 396 00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: industrial settings, but not it's not a consumer product. It 397 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: never really made that transition Okay, we're gonna take another 398 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: quick break. When we come back, we'll finish up on 399 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:31,040 Speaker 1: the recent history of a R and talk about Apple. 400 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: So Google Glass, as we mentioned, came out in two 401 00:24:43,040 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: thousand and fourteen, and two years later Microsoft introduced the 402 00:24:46,440 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: Hollow lens. The hollow lens is a lot beefier than 403 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:55,320 Speaker 1: Google Glass. It's also larger and bulkier. It's not not 404 00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,600 Speaker 1: heavy from what I understand, but it takes up a 405 00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,520 Speaker 1: lot more realist date on your head. Like there's no 406 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: mistaking that you're wearing a headset when you've got a 407 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:07,280 Speaker 1: hollow lens on, Whereas if you've got a pair of 408 00:25:07,359 --> 00:25:10,199 Speaker 1: Google Glass on and someone's not actually looking at your 409 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:12,960 Speaker 1: YouTube closely, they may just think you're having you know, 410 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: some classes on uh if they're really an observant. But 411 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,080 Speaker 1: there there are two lenses in the hollow lens. They 412 00:25:20,119 --> 00:25:23,520 Speaker 1: can overlay digital information over your view of the world. 413 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,680 Speaker 1: You do look through the lenses and see the world 414 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,560 Speaker 1: around you. So this is not like a mixed reality 415 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:31,919 Speaker 1: headset where you're looking at a solid display. You are 416 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:36,040 Speaker 1: looking through transparent lenses and you can use gestures to 417 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 1: interact with these virtual elements that you can see in 418 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:42,760 Speaker 1: your field of view and appear to be in the 419 00:25:42,920 --> 00:25:46,600 Speaker 1: environment around you, but it's all virtual. So, for example, 420 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,399 Speaker 1: you could put up a panel of a video screen 421 00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:52,880 Speaker 1: and you could place it wherever you liked within your 422 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:58,000 Speaker 1: physical environment, and it would stay put in that spot 423 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: while you look around as if it were an actual 424 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,320 Speaker 1: physical television screen, but in fact it's all virtual. That's 425 00:26:05,359 --> 00:26:08,160 Speaker 1: one example. And like, the effects I've heard are really 426 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:12,040 Speaker 1: really compelling. I've heard the hollow lens is super neat. 427 00:26:12,119 --> 00:26:15,000 Speaker 1: I have never had the opportunity to use one myself, 428 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,639 Speaker 1: but every video I've seen, every review I've seen suggested 429 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:23,320 Speaker 1: that it was a pretty cool effect that showed the 430 00:26:23,400 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 1: potential for hollow lens. However, Microsoft wasn't able to make 431 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,920 Speaker 1: a version of hollow lens that could be priced for 432 00:26:33,359 --> 00:26:38,520 Speaker 1: the consumer market because the technology was just far too 433 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:43,400 Speaker 1: expensive and sophisticated. So the hollow lens costs like three 434 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 1: thousand dollars. It was just was not something that the 435 00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:48,960 Speaker 1: average person was going to be able to buy, and 436 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,400 Speaker 1: Microsoft knew that, so they were saying, no, that we're 437 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:55,680 Speaker 1: really gearing this towards the professional use, like industrial use, 438 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 1: that kind of thing, not for the home user. Now, 439 00:27:00,240 --> 00:27:03,520 Speaker 1: it does some really cool stuff, but the applications for 440 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:06,960 Speaker 1: the general public would be really limited, which is understandable. 441 00:27:07,040 --> 00:27:10,000 Speaker 1: I mean, if you're a developer, you are not going 442 00:27:10,080 --> 00:27:14,120 Speaker 1: to dedicate the time, money, and resources to create apps 443 00:27:14,320 --> 00:27:18,000 Speaker 1: for an a R headset if the general public can't 444 00:27:18,040 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 1: afford to buy one, because you would never make your 445 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: investment back. Right, you would be wasting all that time 446 00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:27,600 Speaker 1: and money to build something that hardly anyone would be 447 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,920 Speaker 1: able to use. Unless you're doing stuff for industrial purposes, 448 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:33,600 Speaker 1: that's different. But if if you're trying to develop for 449 00:27:33,800 --> 00:27:36,680 Speaker 1: the average person, you're not going to do it for 450 00:27:36,760 --> 00:27:40,600 Speaker 1: a R because very few people can even afford an 451 00:27:40,640 --> 00:27:43,879 Speaker 1: ARE headset. So it makes sense that there are very 452 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 1: limited ARE applications out there for stuff like the hollow lens, 453 00:27:47,680 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: and that the consumer applications we do tend to see 454 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 1: within augmented reality are restricted for things like smartphones and 455 00:27:55,440 --> 00:28:00,200 Speaker 1: handheld game systems. This is stuff that consumers already own 456 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:05,480 Speaker 1: that are also able to perform certain ARE functions instead 457 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:09,160 Speaker 1: of like a dedicated mixed reality or a UR headset. 458 00:28:10,440 --> 00:28:12,639 Speaker 1: Now that brings us up to Apple. Now, it's been 459 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,199 Speaker 1: rumored for years that Apple has been working on an 460 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:17,960 Speaker 1: a R product, and it was rumored to look like 461 00:28:18,200 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: a pair of standard eyeglasses, like the black plastic classic 462 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 1: eyeglass frames, maybe a little bit larger than your typical 463 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: eyeglass frames in order to accommodate all those components I 464 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,639 Speaker 1: was talking about earlier. Now, back when Steve Jobs was 465 00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: alive and leading Apple, Apple had a reputation that was 466 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:42,680 Speaker 1: really tied up with its hardware. You had things like 467 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: the iMac and the iPod, which helped Apple navigate some 468 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:50,560 Speaker 1: choppy waters when the company was on the verge of insolvency. 469 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: Then there was the absolute explosion of the iPhone and 470 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,800 Speaker 1: then the success of the iPad. Apple became known as 471 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,920 Speaker 1: this innovative hardware company that will not actually inventing new 472 00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:08,720 Speaker 1: form factors. It kept finding ways to refine these form 473 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:12,280 Speaker 1: factors that had limited or no success in the consumer 474 00:29:12,360 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: market and then create appealing aesthetics and user interfaces and 475 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: make them a successful consumer product. Now, to be clear, 476 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: it's not that I think we would never have seen 477 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,840 Speaker 1: the consumer smartphone without Apple. I think we would have, 478 00:29:30,520 --> 00:29:33,440 Speaker 1: but it would have taken longer for it to really succeed. 479 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: And that would also mean that the impact of smartphones 480 00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,440 Speaker 1: on the online world would have taken longer as well. 481 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: So the ripples that the iPhone created were wide, and 482 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:50,000 Speaker 1: they had dramatic consequences for a lot of the tech sector. Now, 483 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,280 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs passed away in two thousand eleven. He had 484 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:59,000 Speaker 1: overseen the launch of the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, 485 00:29:59,240 --> 00:30:02,720 Speaker 1: and the iPad AD. After his death in two thousand eleven, 486 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:06,760 Speaker 1: the world watched Apple's new CEO, Tim Cook to see 487 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,880 Speaker 1: how he was going to guide Apple forward and what 488 00:30:10,120 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: products would follow. And for a few years, we really 489 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: didn't get anything dramatically new. We got updates to existing 490 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:21,840 Speaker 1: lines of products. But unless you count the MacBook Air 491 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,680 Speaker 1: in two thousand and fourteen, and I don't because the 492 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:28,720 Speaker 1: Air is remarkably thin, but it's still a laptop. Well, 493 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,000 Speaker 1: it took years to go by without any sort of 494 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:36,360 Speaker 1: dramatic new product reveal. Now that's not to say that 495 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,959 Speaker 1: the products Apple produced were bad, that the updates they 496 00:30:40,040 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: made were bad. It's just that you know, earlier years 497 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:48,800 Speaker 1: had enough dramatic unveilings that the expectations among Apple fans 498 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: had grown really high, perhaps unreasonably high. Apple did introduce 499 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:58,200 Speaker 1: an all new category for Apple anyway in two thousand 500 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:03,400 Speaker 1: fifteen with the first generation Apple Watch, so arguably this 501 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: is the first totally new kind of Apple product since 502 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:11,400 Speaker 1: Steve Jobs had passed away in two thousand eleven. Unfortunately 503 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: for Apple, the Apple Watch didn't captivate crowds the same 504 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,280 Speaker 1: way that earlier Apple products had. Now that doesn't mean 505 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: it didn't sell well. It sold really well, but it 506 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,120 Speaker 1: wasn't the revolutionary product that the Apple faithful had been 507 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:30,320 Speaker 1: hoping for. And we've seen a few other products emerged 508 00:31:30,360 --> 00:31:33,600 Speaker 1: from Apple, things like air pods, but none of these 509 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: have really garnered the same reception as the iPhone. And 510 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,520 Speaker 1: Apple has kind of transitioned into more of a services 511 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 1: oriented company, so instead of being hardware focused, their services 512 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 1: focused and Tim Cook really lad that charge because it's 513 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 1: a way for Apple to generate revenue through its existing 514 00:31:52,280 --> 00:31:57,200 Speaker 1: platforms and it doesn't rely on hardware releases. But there 515 00:31:57,240 --> 00:32:01,760 Speaker 1: were rumors that Apple was working one very big categories 516 00:32:01,800 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: of tech that would introduce an all new kind of 517 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:11,000 Speaker 1: product for the company. One was a television. Now Apple 518 00:32:11,080 --> 00:32:13,960 Speaker 1: does have Apple TV, but this is a service that 519 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: can be built into hardware like a set top box 520 00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:20,600 Speaker 1: and then fed to a television where you can access 521 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:25,600 Speaker 1: the content that Apple allows and to use Apple services 522 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:29,360 Speaker 1: to get various types of movies and shows to your television. 523 00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:33,200 Speaker 1: But for years, rumors were circulating the Apple was working 524 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:36,800 Speaker 1: on an actual television set, one that would have the 525 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:41,160 Speaker 1: Apple aesthetic built into the physical hardware, not just delivered 526 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:46,000 Speaker 1: through software that has yet to emerge. Another rumored technology 527 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,880 Speaker 1: was that Apple was working on a car, and we 528 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:51,880 Speaker 1: know that Apple is in fact developing an electric vehicle. 529 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:55,280 Speaker 1: It even has a code name Project Tightened. Now. At 530 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,720 Speaker 1: one point, Apple's plan was to create a fully autonomous vehicle. 531 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 1: Word is that those plans got adjusted because, as we've 532 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:06,680 Speaker 1: learned over the years, making a reliable and safe autonomous 533 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:10,960 Speaker 1: vehicle is super hard to do. So instead, Apple is 534 00:33:11,000 --> 00:33:15,320 Speaker 1: reportedly scaling way back to the more achievable goal of 535 00:33:15,440 --> 00:33:19,920 Speaker 1: producing an electric vehicle. The third category of product was 536 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: the augmented reality glasses, But like Project Titan, Apple has 537 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:28,120 Speaker 1: found the challenges associated with cramming all that hardware into 538 00:33:28,160 --> 00:33:31,040 Speaker 1: an attractive form factor and still have it work and 539 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 1: have enough battery life to be useful and not cost 540 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:37,640 Speaker 1: tens of thousands of dollars is a really tall order. 541 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:41,760 Speaker 1: It actually reminds me of those posters you'll occasionally see 542 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:48,360 Speaker 1: in workplaces that say something like you want it done right, fast, cheap, 543 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:51,800 Speaker 1: you may pick two out of the three. So in 544 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: other words, you can get it done right and you 545 00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:56,120 Speaker 1: can get it done fast, but that means it's going 546 00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,920 Speaker 1: to be really expensive, or you can get it done 547 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,200 Speaker 1: cheap and you can get done fast, but it ain't 548 00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 1: gonna be right. That kind of thing. That poster really 549 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:07,320 Speaker 1: does paint an accurate picture that you can't always get 550 00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,359 Speaker 1: what you want, but if you try, sometimes you might 551 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,720 Speaker 1: find you get what you need to quote Rolling Stone. 552 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:21,080 Speaker 1: So now Apple instead plans to release a mixed reality headset. Now, 553 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:23,160 Speaker 1: to be clear, this was already part of the plan 554 00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:25,920 Speaker 1: back when the A R glasses were still on the 555 00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:30,200 Speaker 1: developmental table. The plan was to release a mixed reality 556 00:34:30,320 --> 00:34:35,000 Speaker 1: headset first, probably this year, and then follow that up 557 00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:39,920 Speaker 1: with a dedicated augmented reality product. But now the are 558 00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:44,080 Speaker 1: product is on indefinite hold, So now the new plan 559 00:34:44,400 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 1: is to release this mixed reality headset and then follow 560 00:34:47,760 --> 00:34:51,640 Speaker 1: that up with a less expensive mixed reality headset later. 561 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:56,200 Speaker 1: Bloomberg reports that the first mixed reality headset, the expensive 562 00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:58,480 Speaker 1: one that most folks in the industry expect will be 563 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:01,799 Speaker 1: released sometime this year, is going to set you back 564 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:05,359 Speaker 1: a hefty three thousand dollars, just like the hollow lens 565 00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 1: would have three grand for a mixed reality headset. Is 566 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:12,480 Speaker 1: a very steep price, indeed, and I think it's safe 567 00:35:12,560 --> 00:35:15,400 Speaker 1: to say that it's well out of the range of 568 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:18,759 Speaker 1: the average consumer. They're still going to be early adopters 569 00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:22,080 Speaker 1: out there and folks who have significant spending money who 570 00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:24,759 Speaker 1: will rush out and pick one of these up, but 571 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:27,560 Speaker 1: most of us will be waiting around to see if 572 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:31,480 Speaker 1: the less expensive version is more within our grasp, and 573 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:34,759 Speaker 1: that might mean waiting at least a year or two, 574 00:35:34,760 --> 00:35:37,759 Speaker 1: because it might be or twenty five before we get 575 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:42,839 Speaker 1: the more modest mixed reality headset from Apple. And as 576 00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,040 Speaker 1: I mentioned earlier, a high price tag also means there's 577 00:35:46,080 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 1: not a whole lot of incentive for developers to make 578 00:35:48,680 --> 00:35:52,319 Speaker 1: stuff for the platform, since very few people will even 579 00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,480 Speaker 1: be able to access it. So it's even possible that 580 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:59,239 Speaker 1: by the time the lower price mixed reality headset comes out, 581 00:35:59,800 --> 00:36:02,640 Speaker 1: there still won't be very much you can do on 582 00:36:03,239 --> 00:36:07,080 Speaker 1: the headset, because again, what developer is going to dedicate 583 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:11,440 Speaker 1: the effort to make stuff for something that hardly anyone 584 00:36:11,520 --> 00:36:14,440 Speaker 1: will be able to use. So, yeah, it's it's a 585 00:36:14,640 --> 00:36:17,520 Speaker 1: it's a steep curve doesn't mean that it's impossible to 586 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:22,000 Speaker 1: get through, like it is possible. It's just gonna take 587 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:24,440 Speaker 1: a lot of dedication on Apple's part, and the company 588 00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:28,319 Speaker 1: can't just abandon it. If it turns out the first 589 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:32,880 Speaker 1: generation mixed reality headset, the really expensive one, bombs like 590 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:36,239 Speaker 1: a very few people buy it, then Apple has to 591 00:36:36,320 --> 00:36:38,000 Speaker 1: stick with it if we're going to get to a 592 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:42,719 Speaker 1: point where a mixed reality headset from Apple is going 593 00:36:42,800 --> 00:36:47,400 Speaker 1: to be worth purchasing. Now, as for augmented reality, I 594 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:49,480 Speaker 1: don't think we're at the I don't think that the 595 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:52,440 Speaker 1: chapter is completely closed on it for Apple. I think 596 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:54,279 Speaker 1: there's always going to be a hope that maybe the 597 00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:57,239 Speaker 1: company can work through some of the engineering challenges if 598 00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:02,200 Speaker 1: those are in fact possible to yate a more streamlined 599 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:06,000 Speaker 1: augmented reality product that is worthy of Apple's brand name. 600 00:37:06,680 --> 00:37:10,120 Speaker 1: And I think that that does have a lot of 601 00:37:10,160 --> 00:37:13,520 Speaker 1: cool potential applications if you can get at priced to 602 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,000 Speaker 1: a point where someone can actually afford to buy one. 603 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:20,680 Speaker 1: Otherwise this ends up being very niche hardware for a 604 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 1: very niche audience and it's never gonna develop beyond that, 605 00:37:26,320 --> 00:37:28,719 Speaker 1: but I hope it does because I actually really like 606 00:37:28,840 --> 00:37:31,560 Speaker 1: augmented reality. I think it's super cool. I think that 607 00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:35,759 Speaker 1: there are lots of different, really interesting applications for it. 608 00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:38,520 Speaker 1: There's also some really entertaining ones, like it's not all, 609 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:41,359 Speaker 1: you know, educational, although those are most of the ones 610 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:44,440 Speaker 1: I think about, but you could have really entertaining applications 611 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:47,120 Speaker 1: as well. But in order to get there, we have 612 00:37:47,280 --> 00:37:52,760 Speaker 1: to solve these tough engineering challenges that are not easy 613 00:37:52,840 --> 00:37:55,359 Speaker 1: to walk around. And so yeah, that's kind of where 614 00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:58,840 Speaker 1: we're at. I'm bummed that the augmented reality has been shelved. 615 00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: I'm cure yes about the mixed reality meta kind of 616 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:05,840 Speaker 1: dominates that space right now with the Quest two and 617 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:10,279 Speaker 1: the to a much lesser extent, the Quest Pro. This 618 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 1: this I think would need to really be an incredible 619 00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:17,080 Speaker 1: product from Apple, because it's more than twice the cost 620 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:20,320 Speaker 1: of the Quest Pro, and everybody kind of dismissed the 621 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:25,960 Speaker 1: Quest Pro as being uh an unnecessary product that underperforms 622 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:32,040 Speaker 1: based on your expectations. So the Apple mixed reality headset 623 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:35,040 Speaker 1: needs to truly blow people's socks off. If it's going 624 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:39,160 Speaker 1: to be a successful product. Uh, the brand name can 625 00:38:39,200 --> 00:38:41,320 Speaker 1: only take you so far. I guess there will be 626 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:46,840 Speaker 1: some rich Apple enthusiasts who will buy pretty much anything 627 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:48,879 Speaker 1: Apple puts out, but for the rest of us, that's 628 00:38:48,920 --> 00:38:52,200 Speaker 1: just not the case. Well that's it. Hope you enjoyed 629 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:55,760 Speaker 1: this quick I guess not that quick, but but fairly 630 00:38:55,840 --> 00:38:59,520 Speaker 1: quick update to what's going on with Apple's a our project. 631 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:03,080 Speaker 1: I hope you're all well. If you have anything you 632 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:05,200 Speaker 1: would like to suggest for the show, you can do 633 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:08,279 Speaker 1: so by letting me know on Twitter. The handle for 634 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 1: the show is tech Stuff h s W or you 635 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,440 Speaker 1: can download the I Heart Radio app. It's free to download, 636 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:17,160 Speaker 1: and once you're in the app, you can navigate over 637 00:39:17,200 --> 00:39:19,760 Speaker 1: to tech Stuff by putting that into the search field. 638 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:22,520 Speaker 1: It'll bring you to the tech Stuff podcast page. You'll 639 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:25,279 Speaker 1: see there's a little microphone icon. If you click on that, 640 00:39:25,800 --> 00:39:28,040 Speaker 1: you can leave a voice message up to thirty seconds 641 00:39:28,080 --> 00:39:30,000 Speaker 1: in length and let me know what you would like 642 00:39:30,400 --> 00:39:33,000 Speaker 1: me to talk about in the future. That way, and 643 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:36,000 Speaker 1: that's it for me, so I'll talk to you again 644 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:45,640 Speaker 1: really soon. Y. Tech Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. 645 00:39:45,920 --> 00:39:48,719 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my Heart Radio visit the I 646 00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:52,040 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to 647 00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:53,040 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.